2020 Annual meeting of the OECD network on fiscal relations


	16th Annual Meeting of the
	OECD Network on Fiscal Relations across Levels of Government
	3-4 December 2020 – Virtual Meeting

Opening	Junghun Kim, Chair of the Fiscal Network

Introductory Remarks	Introduction by Network Secretariat

Item II	Inter-governmental policy responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: a review of measures taken to tackle the first wave
	Amidst a second wave in many countries, the role of subnational governments and inter-governmental relations in bringing the outbreak under control is much clearer. Three studies will be discussed that examine practices employed by OECD and partner countries related to: i) the role of subnational governments in healthcare and containment measures; ii) existing inter-governmental fiscal arrangements; and iii) mechanisms employed to improve coordination across levels of government in tackling the COVID-19 crisis.
Presentation	Sean Dougherty (Head of Secretariat) Inter-governmental policy responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Presentation	Dorothée Allain-Dupré (CFE) The Territorial impact of covid-19: managing the crisis across levels of government
Presentation	Agnès Soucat (World Health Organisation) Fiscal consequences of a health related economic shock :emerging lessons from the COVID-19 crisis
Background paper	COVID-19 and Fiscal Relations across Levels of Government
Background paper	The Territorial Impact of COVID-19: Managing the Crisis across Levels of Government
Background paper	Federalism and Public Health Decentralisation in the Time of COVID-19

Item III	Discussion of subnational and inter-governmental responses to the crisis
	Delegates and invitees are invited to share the experiences of their countries through the channel of inter-governmental relations, the role of subnational governments in designing and implementing healthcare and containment measures, as well as the main challenges being faced in tackling the pandemic and coordinating actions taken by different levels of government.
Presentation	Bruno Funchal, Secretary of the Treasury (Brazil) The Brazilian response to the COVID 19 crisis
Background paper	N.K. Singh, Former Chairman, Fifteenth Finance Commission

Item IV	Future prospects and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
	Lessons learnt from the first wave can help countries to better address the second wave, future outbreaks and emergencies. In that light, inter-governmental fiscal relations can be permanently improved through the adoption of measures that were employed to tackle the first wave, potentially leading to more resilient policies. Delegates are invited to share potential reforms that are inspired by lessons learnt during this difficult period.
Presentation	Adèle Lieber (DGFiP, France) Future prospects and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Presentation	Hyuna Kim (KIPF, Korea) Flattening the curve on COVID-19 in Korea: Subnational and intergovernmental responses
Presentation	Giacomo Antonio Di Fazio (Ministry of Economy and Finance, Italy) Italian response to the crisis caused by Covid-19
Background paper	Alina Tatarenko (Council of Europe): Addressing the impact of the pandemic and the use of digital technologies in elections

Item V	Fiscal Rules for Subnational Governments: The Devil’s in the Details
	Most OECD and partner countries have multiple fiscal rules in place applied to subnational governments. These rules are considered to be a key policy instrument for ensuring fiscal discipline and coordination of deficit and debt levels across levels of government. In the current context, the dramatic economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led many countries to activate general escape clauses and lifted fiscal rules to give subnational governments more room to manoeuvre. In the aftermath of the crisis, though, fiscal rules can be especially relevant to ensure a fiscal sustainable path for subnational governments.
Presentation	Camila Vammalle (GOV) Fiscal rules for subnational governments: The Devil in the Details
	Teresa Ter-Minassian (Expert)

Item VI	Discussion of rising subnational debt and the role of subnational fiscal rules
	Delegates and invitees are invited to share their experiences with rising subnational debt levels and how they envision a return to fiscal sustainability. This may cover the substance of rules (i.e. deficit rules, debt rules, expenditure limits and tax limitations), monitoring and enforcement mechanisms as well as the institutional context in which they operate.
Presentation	Hendrik Ritter (Ministry of Finance, Germany) Annual meeting of the network on fiscal relations across levels of government
Presentation	Nuño de Juan Ledesma (Ministry of Finance, Spain) Discussion of rising subnational debt and the role of subnational fiscal rules

Item VII	Funding of local government public investment
	Local government are responsible for, on average, about 40% of general government public investments. Ensuring that they can make good investments in a fiscally sustainable manner is, therefore, crucial. Multiple factors affect their capacity to invest while being fiscally healthy, such as the funding framework, fiscal discipline mechanisms, financial instruments, financial institutions, the public financial management system and multi-level governance. Although there is no best combination of these factors, they can change the characteristics of investment outcomes and create different fiscal issues that are worth exploring.
Presentation	Hansjörg Blöchliger (ECO) Funding and financing of local government public investment: A framework with applications to five OECD countries
Presentation	Felix Ejgel (S&P Global Ratings) S&P global ratings view on global lrg indebtedness

Item VIII	Discussions of funding of local government public investment
	Delegates and invitees are invited to share their practices and policy frameworks related to local government investments. In light of the draft framework and case studies, a discussion in vented on the appropriate funding and financing sources for local public investment and policies to ensure fiscal efficiency and sustainability.
Presentation	Markku Mölläri (Ministry of Finance, Finland) Investments in Local and Regional sector in Finland
Presentation	Daniel Hinze (Scottish Government, United Kingdom) Funding Devolved Government in the UK: Scotland

Item IX	Work Programme Discussion (for Network Members only)
	The Fiscal Network’s new Programme of Work and Budget for 2021-22 has just been approved. Thematic priorities for future work will be collected and discussed, with suggestions for future themes highly welcome.
Presentation	Sean Dougherty (Head of Network Secretariat): Fiscal Network Members
*Background document*	Local Public Finance and Capacity Building in Asia (Fiscal Federalism Studies Series)

Fiscal federalism network

2020 Annual meeting of the OECD network on fiscal relations